Entropy
by WackyD
Summary: Set in AU Universe where Anna doesn't die, but loses her memory.
1. Prologue: One Single Dream

Entropy

Prologue: One Single Dream

Author's Note: Hello, all. This is my first Van Helsing fic, so please be gentle. I just watched the movie for the first time on my computer this weekend...even though I didn't get the chance to see it on the big screen, I liked it anyway. Soo...this is my story. It's set in a little AU universe where Anna magically didn't die after a huge werewolf jumped on top of her. However...she lost her memory. And we'll go from there...

_A chill of fear ran up her spine as the beast turned to her, it's fiery eyes boring into hers. She could not sense a shred of human sense left in them. But no...she had to be strong. It leaped towards her with fearsome speed, teeth dripping blood and saliva, hulking form contorted as it ran towards her. She stood as if in a trance, clutching the cure in so tightly her knuckles turned ivory white. She couldn't move but could only reach out numbly to plunge the cure into the hide of the werewolf as it toppled onto her. She was vaguely aware of a crushing pain, and then everything began to waver and slowly fade out. She felt as if she were strangling, her lungs crushed and her limbs felt as if they were tied down. She could only struggle slowly, as if she were underwater. A sudden premonition hit her—she was going to die. Right here, right now. Suddenly the moon ducked behind a glowering cloud and the werewolf, with a scream of pain, turned back into a man. A tall, dark, man...She redoubled her efforts to break free, tearing against what was restricting her..._

The woman sat up abruptly, completely and utterly disoriented. Her violent panic screeched to a halt as she realized the bonds she had been resisting were just the blankets. Slowly unwinding the mess of bedclothes from her body, she looked around the room, squinting in the bright light.

Almost from habit, she took inventory of herself. Her ribs hurts, probably more than one of them was cracked. There was dried blood from numerous scratches on her face, arms, and stomach, but her legs seemed relatively unharmed, but slightly shaky.

A sudden thought caused her pause. Habit...what other habits did she have? She couldn't recall anything, and felt a slow wave of panic creeping up to envelop her.

"What is my name?" She cried out loud, beginning to shake. _"What is my name?_" A tremor of fear crept into her voice. The dream with the werewolf...it was the only thing she could recall, along with the man's face.

She made for the door of the room immediately, but quickly realized she might do well in putting on some clothes. To her surprise, a set of clothes, including lace up boots and a tight corset, were folded neatly inside the closet of the spacious room. She pulled them on, and they fit her perfectly. She had been expecting that.

Striding out of the room, she heard voices floating up the stairs. She took a moment to glance around the hallway. It was richly decorated, and there was a portrait at the far end of the hall. She walked toward it slowly.

It was of a woman and man, the man with light brown hair, pale eyes, and an easy smile, the woman with dark curly hair, pallid skin, and a serious expression. She slowly reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair. Dark. Curly. It matched that of the girl in the portrait's exactly.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, she spun on her heel and nearly ran down the stairs, screeching to a halt when the dull ache in her ribs threatened to become an acute pain.

Pausing for breath, she could hear the voices more clearly now. They appeared to be coming from two men in the next room. Slowly, unsurely, she walked towards the closed door. She paused for a moment with her hand on the doorknob, the cool metal numbing a still stinging gash on her hand. Then she twisted the door open, scrutinizing the two strangers.

The taller one, who looked slightly familiar, stopped in mid-sentence, freezing when he saw her. The shorter man turned around, and beamed at her. "You're finally awake, eh?"

The tall man looked at her dead-on, an expression in his eyes she couldn't quite read. "Anna..." He said quietly, walking towards her.

A sudden flash of panic awoke in her. She suddenly recalled where she had seen this man last. The werewolf!!

"You tried to kill me! Get away!" She screamed, stumbling back away from him. She slipped; her injured body used to the sudden frantic motions, and fell hard on the floor.

The tall man hurried towards her, something like alarm and worry in his shadowed eyes. "I—I'm sorry." He whispered, "I was not in my right mind at the time."

"Who are you?" She demanded roughly, standing up quickly, cheeks slightly pink with shame at having fallen down in front of the two strangers.

Both of the men stopped short.

"What did you say?"

"I asked who you were." She said shortly. "Is that so uncommon?"

"Anna...you...you don't remember?" The man who had been the werewolf asked, walking towards her again.

"How often must I repeat myself—keep away from me!" She hissed, dark eyes aglow as she took another step backwards. She paused suddenly. "Is...is that my name? Anna?" Her optics were suddenly full of a sort of childlike innocence.

"Anna Valerious." The shorter man affirmed from across the room, but the tall one took another step closer. Anna drew back once more.

"You don't remember anything? Anything at all?" He questioned her harshly.

"Nothing."

Author's Note: For those of you who are a bit slow, that was Anna and Velkan in the portrait. Thanks for reading, I'll try and get the next chapter up soon. Reviewers will get rubber duckies...or cookies...whatever. (By the way, if my italics aren't showing up on this story, will someone tell me?)


	2. Chapter 1: Secrets

Entropy

Chapter 1: Secrets

Author's Note: Just to clear things up, Anna, Van Helsing, and Carl are staying in the Valerious Manor. As far as I could understand, there were three manor/castle-y places in the movie: Frankenstein's Castle, Dracula's Castle, and the Valerious Manor (where Anna, Carl, and Gabriel went after the 3 brides first attacked them in the village.) Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Later that night, Anna sat curled up by the fire. The two men had previously introduced themselves as Gabriel Van Helsing, the tall and dark one, and Carl, the friar. They had mentioned nothing else of her elusive past, leaving it up to Anna to imagine what her life had been like up till now.

They had said nothing either of the strange dream she had had just before she had woken up...the one where Gabriel had killed her. Something about this Van Helsing made Anna deeply uneasy and at time same time deeply intrigued. He looked at her differently than he would look at Carl, a friend. It seemed his gaze held an extra level of protectiveness...but perhaps that was simply because she had lost her memory?

These questions with no answers would lead her nowhere. She stared into the effulgent flames for one more moment before arising on stiff joints to seek out the two men.

Just as she was about to exit the room, Carl and Gabriel entered, both looking quite grave.

"Is something wrong?" Anna asked as politely as she could while still trying to seem demanding. She wanted answers, now.

"Nothing," Gabriel replied swiftly, but Carl had seemed about to say something else before Van Helsing had cut him off.

"I see." Anna walked to the window where she could look down on the small Transylvanian village that lay buried in soft white snow. This was her home, apparently. "Then if nothing is wrong, perhaps you wouldn't mind answering some questions about my past."

"Anna, maybe it's best if we don't-"Gabriel began, but Carl cut him off.

"Why shouldn't we tell her, Van Helsing?" Carl asked suddenly, eyes wide with unfeigned innocence. "There are things she deserves to remember, like her family. Like Velkan."

Velkan...the name seemed foreign, but when she spoke it to herself the word tasted strangely familiar on her tongue. "Who was Velkan?"

"Your brother." It was Gabriel who answered her this time, his dark eyes betraying such utter tragedy that it was painful for her to watch. "Anna...are you sure you want to know—"

Once again he was cut off. "This is my life, and I make my own choices, Gabriel. And to help me make my choices, I must have a past to look back on."

He stared at her for a long moment, her defiant eyes meeting his without a tremor. "Please." She added, and he smiled.

"You were always the stubborn one. All right, sit down." She obeyed in silence, curling back up by the fire, but her eyes never left his.

"Velkan Valerious was your brother. He was also the man that died to save you, or else you would have borne the curse of the werewolf forever." Van Helsing began. He talked long into the night, telling her the story of her Valerious ancestors, their ancient quest to defeat Dracula, and how she, him, and Carl had finally defeated the Count only a week ago.

When he had finished, Anna was quiet for a lengthy period, her gaze piercing the fire intently, as if probing the flames to give up their secrets of combustion. Then she looked up. "You have told me many things of my family and their quest, but you have told me nothing of how I met you, nor why or how I was injured in our battle against Dracula," At this she gestured to the bandages spanning her body, covering her numerous cuts and scrapes, and her broken ribs.

"What was I to you, Gabriel?"

The question was meant to be innocent, but it came out in a way she had not intended it to. There was a moment so electrically charged she couldn't bear it, and was forced to look his way. "Forgive me. I did not mean to divulge into personal matters. Clearly...we were partners but nothing more."

She managed to look up into his eyes for a moment but what glimmered in the depths of those dark optics was carefully guarded. He offered her a thin smile, so unlike the one he had given to her before their discussion of her past that she was convinced that she had offended him in some way.

Then he spoke, but it was not in an antagonistic or angry tone. "Anna, there are other things, things that you deserve to know before you make any judgments about me. That's why I am so desperate to return your memory. Please...it's better if you don't question me about myself until you remember everything."

A flash of her dream came back to Anna then, but it slipped away so promptly that she was only able to hold on to one single image.

_She was lying on a soft red couch, the moonlight glimmering in through high, ornate windows. The air was cold and she was gasping for breath, gasping so that she could see the air leave her in puffs of vaporous smoke. There was a moment when she choked for breath as tentacles of agony pulled around her sides-the broken ribs. She glanced upwards and saw Gabriel's horrorstricken face at her side, his eyes reflecting her own pain._

"I understand." She managed to answer his statement, but her eyes were gazing intensely at him. What did he know about her that she did not?

He nodded at her, obviously relieved. Then they both turned as the door of the room swung open with a crash. Carl entered—Anna and Van Helsing had been so absorbed in their previous conversation that they had failed to notice that the friar had exited.

"I've found it." Carl declared, holding up a decrepit looking book and beaming at them. "I knew I'd read about it somewhere, and I finally found it."

"What is that?" Gabriel asked him rather suspiciously.

"The key to restoring Anna's memories." Carl intoned triumphantly, smiling at her, but she could only answer him with a look of complete confusion.

Van Helsing seemed about to speak, but Anna silenced him with a soft look and spoke first. "What is this...cure you speak of, Carl?" Her eyes were wide with hope. Why did she wish so reverently for the return of her past? For although she longed to be able to cling to memories of her honorable family once again, there was a duel reason for her memory to be retrieved. There would be a chance for her to possibly break through Gabriel's icy exterior, and to know his true character and why he acted so strangely towards her, though she still did not know why he intrigued her so.

Carl paused for a second, looking suddenly uncomfortable before he was able to answer her inquiry.

"You must be turned into a vampire."

Author's Note: I know this is probably more than a little confusing, but I promise it'll all be explained in the next chapter...which I need to write. I've got a load of schoolwork right now, but I'll put it up as soon as I can, and I promise it'll be longer.

Thanks so much to all my reviewers! You all made my day, so thank you all: Lord Harven, LornaluvsHP, Silverwhy, Lady Sirinial, Accipitridae, Rachel, Hand.Behind.This.Pen, and Aislinn-Nicole. Any comment or suggestions, feel free to email/AIM me.

One more thing...I really recommend the story Ripples in Time by Verona Dracula. I just read it and it's one of the best Van Helsing fics around, in my opinion. Really really original and all that.


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